Fatty, rich, strong, moderately sour.
In general, it's almost our shchi, but in the French style. If we don't spare cabbage for shchi, then the French put onions in handfuls, and even fry them beforehand.
And rightly so, because in the national tradition, eating boiled onions with gusto is the last thing you should do, even if you are French and have been accustomed to frogs and oysters for lunch since childhood, says Yulia Arkhipova .
For French soup you will need:
- 100 g butter;
- 8 onions, thinly sliced;
- 1 bunch of thyme;
- 120 ml sherry;
- 1 liter of chicken or beef broth;
- salt and pepper;
- 16 slices of baguette for croutons;
- 2 tablespoons olive oil;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 100 g grated Swiss cheese (cheddar or gruyere).
Heat a deep, heavy-sided saucepan over high heat, add the butter to the bottom and melt, stirring. When the butter is slightly brown, add about a third of the onions and let them soak in the butter and settle, about 5 minutes.
When the onions are brown, add the next batch and fry, stirring. Fry all the onions like this. This will take about 20 minutes.
Add sherry, herbs and chicken broth to the onion mixture, season the soup with salt and pepper. Mix everything well, checking with a spoon to make sure the onions are not stuck to the bottom of the pan. Leave the soup to simmer for about 20 minutes.
While the soup is cooking, make the croutons. Turn the oven on to grill or full power. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet, rub each on both sides with garlic, brush with olive oil, and lightly salt and pepper.
Place the croutons in the oven for about 1 minute, until the bread is browned. Then turn the croutons over and place them back in the oven to brown.
Remove any foam that forms on the surface of the soup and remove the pan from the heat.
Ladle the almost-ready French onion soup into heat-proof bowls, top with a few croutons and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the bowl of soup in the oven to melt the cheese. Don't skimp on the cheese for the onion soup. You can't ruin it with cheese or butter!
Garnish the finished soup with a few sprigs of thyme and serve straight from the oven.
Earlier we talked about how to make homemade ketchup.
Expert: Arkhipova Julia
